East Rutherford, NJ: In this week’s edition of We’re Totall Screwed, Bigfoot Erotica! When Genghis Ghan and the Mongols conquered China, they wouldn’t let their people stay in China too long. The Khans thought the civilized comforts of China would make the Mongols soft. Well, we got soft. Anyway, I’ll still trying to process this round of Yankees trades that was much less sexy than the first. You know, unsexy like Bigfoot. Let’s turn to football and take a look at five things to watch Giants in training camp.
Ben McAdoo and staff had their share of injuries and bad luck to contend with, but poor coaching was certainly a catalyst in the trip to Suckville. They team had no creativity on offense, lining up in the same formation on almost every play. Teams were openly mocking their predictability. And when the locker room started falling apart, McAdoo couldn’t get the boat off of the reef. The new regime has prioritized character players like Jonathan Stewart to help keep the youngsters in line.
Pat Shurmur ran a much more creative offense in Minnesota and we should see plenty of wrinkles. James Bettcher will be armed with lots of pieces friendly to the 3-4 base defense he’ll be bringing in. The 3-4 brings back memories of the Crunch Bunch poster I had on my wall as a kid with LT, Harry Carson, Brad Van Pelt, and Brian Kelly. Let’s just say, we’re looking for a different tone in camp. But other than the coaching, here are five things to watch.
5. Eli and The Boys: Eli can still play if you give him time and some weapons. But they passed on three potential studs at QB to roll on with Eli. The Giants are risking another trip to the Dave Brown Wasteland. But what if the Giants got Saquon AND have Eli’s successor on the roster in Webb or Lauretta? Stranger things have happened. Sure, we’ll be watching how Eli looks in the new offense, but we also want to get a look at the two kids who’ve never played a down in the league.
4. Odell: It seems like the Giants told ODB that if he plays the good soldier in camp, they’ll extend his contract. He’s been doing all the right things since the Instagram Incident, and the Giants are talking extension. Odell is the most explosive player the Giants have ever had and the offense was lost without him. Keeping him happy, getting him a new contract, and keeping the sideshow to a minimum will be running storylines.
3. Secondary Depth: The Giants took Sam Beal in the supplemental draft to try to shore up the back end, the weakest part of their D. The Jackrabbit is coming off a bad year, Eli Apple showed the maturity of a WWE fan in his sophomore year, and DRC is gone. There is no depth at corner and they need to find an answer at free safety. Fixing the mess in the back will be key. Although the Giants have improved up front, they don’t figure to get a ton of pressure without blitzing.
2. SAY QUON: The Giants haven’t had a rookie with this much hype since Eli Manning, the man who will be handing him the ball. Saquon Barkley has looked the part so far and has said all the right things. We all heard the pundits ramble about the Giants passing on the potential heir to Eli and how the drafting a RB at two doesn’t make economic sense. I think we’re all pretty pumped to see if this kid can prove them wrong.
- The O-Line: Eli didn’t have a great year even though he got rid of the ball faster on average than all but a few QBs in the league. With Ereck Flowers protecting your back, you’d be scurred too. The two best, but injury prone players are gone. On board are an overpaid Solder and a promising rookie in Hernandez. They should have a least half of a line this year and if they can piece together something on the right, they have the weapons on offense to score some points. Early indications are that the D line is out-muscling the O line early on. Sigh. This group needs to be a C student, at least, or this train isn’t getting far from the station.
Come back tomorrow for Angry Ward, who’s more of Lockness Monster Erotica guy. Follow us on Twitter at @BenWhit8, @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
